BackOn 1 November 2023, the Commissioner of Official Languages, Raymond Théberge, made the following statement following the announcement of the new Francophone immigration targets:
“I believe that the new Francophone immigration targets for the next three years are a step in the right direction to stop the demographic decline of the Francophones outside Quebec.
“However, increasing the demographic weight of Francophones outside Quebec and restoring that weight to 6.1%, as required by the modernized Official Languages Act, will largely depend on meeting these new targets and setting even more ambitious ones in the future.
“I applaud the positive initiatives taken by the government in recent months to increase the number of French-speaking immigrants and workers in Canada. I encourage it to continue to be innovative and creative in attracting more French-speaking immigrants and making it easier for them to integrate into our Francophone minority communities.
“Francophone immigration alone cannot eliminate the labour shortage affecting the country, but it is still one of the main solutions for rebuilding the workforce in several critical employment sectors within our official language communities, especially the health and education sectors.
“The government needs to provide strong, consistent leadership to mobilize all of the stakeholders involved in Francophone immigration and whose cooperation is essential to the success of this vital social initiative.”
Source: The Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, Canada
